Cycling East Sussex

Cuckoo Trail & Pevensey Levels circular

Horam
Vines Cro ss

Avenue Verte

www.sustrans.com

Miles Mile M e

NH DE W CO

AL

M rle Marle Green en Green

Ho ra m

LR

OA

Beestons
0 1 2 3 Kilometres Kilo

Cucko o Tra il

A2 67

Cucko o Tra il

Lower Horsebridge
A2 71

7 A2

CRICKE TI NG LANE

A267

e nu Ave
e rte V V V Ve eV
A259

HA

MM

ER

LA

r ve Ri

e er m ck Cu

NE

Merrie Harriers
BE

B2244

Cowbeech

ZE

LL

SL

AN

E
LC

Polegate

Jarviss Wood

Cowbeech Hill Stunts Green

M HA ILS CH NE LA

Gingers Green
k Woo od Park Wood

Herstmonceux
Herstmonceux

A271

Hellingly Windmill Hill

B2104

Magham Down

A271

71 A2

Magham Dow Down

1 B2
04

A2 9 5

A29 5

Metres

te

Wilmington Wood

ue V er

Ave n

Cucko k oT rail

The O The Old Loom m Mil l ll ) Mill (cafe)

Rickney kn
Hankha m

eV ert To e u Ma r de nc la he
nsey Haven Peve

Av e

nu

A22 2

Ric k

04

ne y

B2 1

Yo t

ha

A2

Polegate

A2
2

Herstmonceux Castle

Hailsham
Hurst Haven

e L

v e

e v

n e

s l

e s

100 80 60 0 20 0

B2104

Herst monce ux

o ur

T T T T

de
nc Ma la

he

22 47

SHEPHAM LANE

A2 7 (T

Hankham
A27(T)
)

B2

10 4
Reproduced from Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the controller of Her Majestys Stationery Office Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. East Sussex County Council. Licence no: 100019601, 2008

Polegate

David Selman

Ian Chamberlain

Ian Chamberlain

This circular ride offers a much gentler excursion than those exploring the High Weald further north; indeed the parts of the route crossing the Pevensey Levels are as at as anything you will nd in the whole country. Starting from Polegate you turn east, soon entering the Pevensey Levels, a landscape of deep and dark drainage channels, tall reeds and rushes, with contented cows munching the lush grass in the rich pastures. The horizon looks like the rim of a saucer, just rising above the at elds crossed on the ride. To the east are the buildings and domes surrounding Herstmonceux Castle. The main hill of the ride comes at the north edge of the Levels, climbing 60 metres as you cross the A271 to Gingers Green and on to Stunts Green. Refreshment stops have been in short supply since leaving Hailsham but this is remedied in Cowbeech. Several crossings of the tributaries of the Cuckmere River mean a series of ups and downs on your way through Beestons and Marle Green to Horam, where you join the Cuckoo Trail.

Year-on-year the trail becomes a more interesting ride as new sculptures are built and new interpretation boards give you background information about all that lies around you. Woodland management opens up new views and creates habitats for a variety of ora and fauna. Glide gently downhill through mature woodland and admire the wonderful metal sculpture either side of Cattle Creep bridge depicting trains, bikes, horses, walkers, dogs and wild animals. Children will love the Wildlife Art Trail - a series of carved wooden tableaux depicting creatures such as hedgehogs and squirrels. The Cuckoo Trail takes you right back to Polegate. Hellingly Church The church of St. Peter and St. Paul has a rare circular churchyard of Saxon origin known as a cric. Standing seven feet above the surrounding houses it is held in place by tall brick walls; its circular form is believed to represent the Celtic symbol for immortality and was raised above ground level to keep the dead dry.

Pevensey Levels The area was formed by a build-up of shingle across Pevensey Bay, which was reclaimed in the Middle Ages to create a broad plain of pasture land with dykes and isolated farms. It is now an internationally important wetland for wildlife. Herstmonceux Castle Location of a fairytale castle, the Science Centre and former royal observatory telescopes. It was from the observatorys atomic clocks at Herstmonceux that the familiar six-pips were sent by land-line to the BBC for broadcast. Cuckoo Trail The original railway line was the Polegate to Eridge railway, carrying milk, livestock and animal feed as well as passengers. It was named the Cuckoo Line after the tradition that the rst cuckoo of spring was released at Heatheld Fair. It was closed due to the cuts made by Beeching in 1968 and became a leisure route used by walkers, cyclists and horseriders in 1990. The trail is 13 miles long, from Heatheld in the north to Hampden Park, Eastbourne, in the south, and forms part of the National Cycle Network Route 21 and The Avenue Verte London - Paris.

Pevensey Levels

David Sellman

David Sellman

David Young

Cuckoo Trail

Hellingly

Cattle Creep Bridge

Pevensey Levels

Pevensey Levels